Ah, competition. I practically live for it, no matter what form. It is the very thing that drives me to the extreme... it's kind of hard to explain. It's very thrilling, though, and probably everybody would agree on that part. This isn't a very long topic, but I desperately want to bring up a few points that confuse me as much as a trading card game tournament confuses an old person.

When I am against my dad in something, especially strategy-based things, we always use every single trick we have. Each of us puts on a fake expression on our face to try and throw off each other. For example, I act like I am about to win with what my opponent can't see. I actually can't do anything good, however; I am merely trying to scare my opposition into thinking that I can, and therefore alter what he does, allowing me to get ahead. Solely for this, I made two strategy games of my own. The rules are very complicated and nobody would understand how to play them merely from lots of words, so I'm not going to put them up. I'll just say that they're both based on strategy and logic.

Some people just can't handle the excitement and tension that builds in the climax of things. A few people have seen me face off with my dad and called it "wrong" and "unjust". Where the heck is anything wrong with that? It just adds in another exciting element to the game when you need to think "Based on their expression, what should I do? Or are they just trying to fake me out?" I think it's great, yet others say it's anything except great.

Another thing. If you lose, GET OVER IT! You lost! It's not the end of the world! I mean, during a game, I treat everything like a battle between life & death. If I lose that particular thing, will I kill myself? Absolutely not! I get over it, congratulate the other person, playfully vow revenge, and probably ask for a rematch. ^.~ What I can't understand here is why others have a bad attitude about it, sometimes for the rest of the day. The best example I could think of now is this: My stepbrother (the other site manager) has two younger siblings. When we do something where everybody is competing against each other, we almost never are able to finish it. One of the others will instantaneously drop whatever they're holding, lower their head, start screaming, possibly damage the materials, run away, and slam the door of their own room. What happened? I'm usually so connected into the heat of the moment that I don't often catch when this is about to occur.

One last thing. If I don't pour all of my effort into something, I feel I haven't really accomplished anything or given somebody else a true competition. So, why do some people "go easy" on others? Where's the learning in that? And why do some "let them win"? That builds overconfidence, and it'll be your downfall once you challenge other people in the world to something and watch in disbelief as you get cremated. No matter how many times you lose, you're building up experience if you're always in the fray. I really, really hated when one of my relatives went easy on me in something. This is why I like my dad. ^_^ He was relentless... I must have lost hundreds of times at poker and games like that before I finally started to be just as competitive as he was. When I was 7, I already moved up to chess because everything below chess got way too easy. Now, I'm even beyond chess, heh.

Can anybody answer the two (or three, depending on how you look at it) questions that I've brought up in this topic? It would be appreciated...

Reply 6/25/03: Hey! just read "Have a Nice Day" I liked it. Seems as if you have gleaned the right lessons out of the merciless poundings I have given you in the games we have played. 'cause when it comes right down to it, life will do the same thing to you (be it life, work, or worst, love) Yeah, life hurts. Sorry. That's the way it has to be. The sooner we come to terms with that the better. The main thing is to stand up to the losses and the hurts and make the most out of every moment because it's all that we've got! Be honest. The worst thing I can think of is that if an accident were to take me out I'd be thinking "Oh, I SHOULD have said this or done that" How pathetic. Yeah, I've said and done things that I've regretted but at least I got it out and dealt with the aftermath. Making mistakes and dealing with them is better than "coulda woulda shoulda"

Most of all, and I have to get back to the original topic, is that, "What's the point of a game if you don't play to win?" Winning is the point for crying out loud! This world has gotten so silly and "politically correct" that soon we'll be wearing deformed masks and sandbags so that we are not more capable or beautiful than the next person!

At that point human history will end. Because evolution will have stagnated. Don't laugh, it's happening as we speak. The lowest common denominator is overtaking us in the court of law (the slowest yet most effective venue available) and will continue to advance unless common sense prevails. (which of course I hold little hope for... common sense appears to be most uncommon in today's world) So grab your dull caps and handicaps and head out into the drab, gray world of fairness.

Oh Joy!

- A reply from my own dad? Heh, cool. I must have lost over 200 times against my dad at anything before I adjusted to the heat of things and started winning. And it was good experience too!

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